Some of the owners of email systems run outside of OUCS have expressed that they would like to move their users and email to the Oxford Nexus service. However, these are all to be scheduled after the Herald-Nexus migrations which are due to finish, with very few exceptions, at the end of 2009.

3. The migration windows

The migration windows for the Herald to Nexus migrations are outlined at

4. The migration picker

For many units there are several ITSS. Each ITSS will know different groups of users. Therefore, several of your colleagues may have to visit the picker in order to consider their users. A ‘select all’ button would be dangerous in that it could undo someone else’s selections.

What if I don’t see a lot of people I expect to see there?

Firstly consider if they will be primarily affiliated with your unit. Users have been associated with units within this exercise using the following assumptions:

If they have a University card with both a department and a college, it is the department that will take precedence.

Taught-course postgraduates are affiliated with their college

Research postgraduates are affiliated with their department (and are treated like ‘staff’ for this exercise).

People who are due to leave soon are excluded from the picker as there is no point migrating them.

Please use the 'not mine' entry beside their name/accounts in the migration picker interface.

How long have I got to select my users?

You have until noon on 17 August to choose in which window your users will migrate. After that date, you will not be able to change the users you have selected for Window 1, but you will be able to move users between Deferred, Window 2 and 'Not ours'.

Selections are locked at noon on Fri 25 September 2009.

What about project accounts?

Project accounts should appear in the picker directly underneath their main owner. The owner's account should be migrated first and the project accounts will follow, usually the next day.

Keep coming back to the picker!

At any point in time, new users who have just arrived at the University could be added. Also users who were apparently set to expire (or leave the University) before the end of October, but have now been extended will magically appear in the picker.

What about non-Herald users?

Do not worry about non-Herald users. If their 'shadow' Herald accounts, are migrated, any email sent to their Nexus accounts will be forwarded to their non-Herald accounts.

5. Exact migration times and telling the users

What and when will the users be told?

When the migration picker is closed for the window (see above), the users will then be sent an email with a specific overnight slot (6pm to 7am). They will receive this between two and three weeks prior to their migration.

How will I know when my users are to be migrated?

You can check out the migration times of your users by looking at the migration picker after the migration window has been frozen.

6. Problems and issues

What if I've chosen a time for the user and s/he changes plans?

Please try to dissuade your users from emailing or contacting OUCS directly. OUCS will postpone migrations for users at your request. If users contact OUCS directly, we will usually refer them to their ITSS. Please try to avoid having to defer any user or account. However, if you feel that this is absolutely necessary, please email registration@oucs.ox.ac.uk .

How do I know who has been migrated and whose migration failed?

Again, please look at the migration picker which should inform you of success (updated around 8am each morning).

If a user is confused about migration success (or otherwise), where should they look?